POOL A | ONT-1 | NS-1 | NB | Record | ||
Toronto Ford/Adidas Thunderbirds | —– | 113-102 | ||||
Nova Scotia Hoopsters | 102-113 | —– | ||||
New Brunswick | —– | |||||
POOL B | ONT-2 | BC | NS-2 | Record | ||
Toronto Bathurst Heights | —– | 98-79 | ||||
BC | 79-98 | —– | ||||
Nova Scotia | —– | |||||
—– |
Semi | Nova Scotia Hoopsters 99 Toronto Bathurst Heights 94 | |
Semi | ||
5th | ||
Bronze | ||
Final | Toronto Ford/Adidas Thunderbirds 97 Nova Scotia Hoopsters 75 | |
In national round robin play, held in Halifax: …………………………………………………… The Toronto Ford/Adidas Thunderbirds clipped the Nova Scotia Hoopsters 113-102 as Bob Allen scored 32 and Wayne Yearwood 23. Steve Benton led the Hoopsters with 25. Stanleigh Mitchell added 25 and Tyson Beals 12.
Lighthouse Lumber: Mickey Fox, Ross Quackenbush, Chris Rowarth
Toronto Bathurst Heights: Eric James, Martin Kean, Phil Dixon, Paris Dryden
New Brunswick: John Ryan, Joey Walker
B.C.: Peter Morris, David Smith, Otis Delaney, J.D. Jackson
In the final, the heavily favored Ford/Adidas Thunderbirds crushed the Nova Scotia Hoopers 97-75. Tournament MVP Bob Allen scored 15 points, all in the second half, as Ontario broke open a 44-41 halftime lead. Michael Meeks, a six-foot-nine centre out of Canisius College led the T-Birds with 22. Sharp-shooting forward Mark Henry struck for 20, 16 in the second half, former NBA pivot Jim Zoet added 13 and National team centre Wayne Yearwood notched 10. Yearwood said they were ready for the Hoopsters tenacity. “We took their best shot,” the six-foot-seven post told Canadian Press. “They were lacking in size, but they made up for it with heart. We played them the opening game of the tournament and we knew how they played. They keep attacking you, they never quit. But we knew what we had to do. In the first half, we got away from our game plan and it cost us. In the second half, we knew we had to go inside and take advantage of our size. There was just no way they could handle us in the paint.” Two Dalhousie Tigers — one past and one future — led the home charges. Pat Colley, a former Dal centre, and Stanleigh Mitchell, a transfer from New Brunswick who will suit up for the Tigers this fall, each netted 16. Former Halifax Windjammer Steve Benton added 13. After the two squads came out from the halftime break, they battled back and forth for the first five minutes of the second half, with Ontario holding a 59-52 edge before Allen and Meeks took over. The inside-outside combination sparked a 15-6 run over the next five minutes with Allen scoring 10 points, to push the lead to 74- 58 midway through the half and put the game out of reach. Henry salted the game away down the stretch, hitting for 13 straight points during one stretch as the Thunderbirds maintained a 20-point cushion.
The all-tourney team featured: MVP Bob Allen (Toronto Thunderbirds); Wayne Yearwood (Toronto Thunderbirds); Norm Clarke (Toronto Thunderbirds); Stanleigh Mitchell (Nova Scotia Hoopsters); and David Smith (BC).
The runner-up Nova Scotia Hoopsters: Shawn Mantley; Stanleigh Mitchell; Steve Benton; Brian States; Pat Colley; Tyson Beals;
The champion Toronto Ford/Adidas Thunderbirds: Bob Allen; Norm Clarke; Wayne Yearwood; Patrick Jebbison; Barry Mungar; Jim Zoet; Michael Meeks; Mark Henry